On the carriage home, Ma discussed with his grandchildren what to do next. When she got home, she didn't care about anything else, so she first sent Uncle Cui and Aunt Cui to let them return to the Ma clan to find older clan elders or elders to inquire about Mrs. Ma when she was young and unmarried.

When the aunt and grandmother of the Ma family brought their adopted daughter back from outside, someone may know the origin of the latter. Although the time has been long, there are still long-lived clansmen in the Kema family, even if they don't know the details, they should have heard some rumors.

Ma asked his grandchildren to look for Xie Wenzai and inquire about the seal of the inner house, while he stayed in the upper room of the main courtyard to write a letter, planning to let his brother Uncle Ma come forward to find the old shopkeeper and old men used by the aunt and grandmother of the Ma family in the past. Although many of these people followed Zhou Shuyi into Beijing, a small number of them were too old or attached to their homeland relatives and friends and were reluctant to leave. After they left Mrs. Ma's command, many of them were hired by the Ma family to do things. Uncle Ma should know more about this news.

When Ma was busy working in the upper room, Haijiao and Begonia had already shown the imprint pattern drawn by the latter to his cousin Xie Wenzai.

Xie Wenzai looked at it and felt that it was indeed very much like the mark of the Inner House, but it was slightly different from the mark he was familiar with, and he didn't dare to determine what age it was.

But he doesn't know, it doesn't mean that others can't help.

He immediately took the Haitang Reef brothers and sisters to the next room to find Lu Bainian.

Lu Mo is older than him, and he joined the office earlier than him, before he was transferred to the Ministry of Household Shangshu Wu Wen'an Gong to serve under him, he had been in charge of the Ministry of Industry Yu Hengqing Officials Division for several years, responsible for manufacturing, sending and receiving all kinds of official utensils, although not in the Inner House, but also from time to time to deal with the craftsmen of the Inner House, presumably better than others to know these imprint patterns.

Lu Bainian did not disappoint them.

He took the pattern and recalled it carefully for a while, and finally remembered: "This should be the seal used by the Inner Government during the Yongchang period, and it is indeed fifty or sixty years ago. He put down the pattern and looked at the begonia, "You said the mark was engraved on two combs?" Ebony comb? ”

Begonia nodded: "It's two ebony combs painted with gold, and the gold paint has fallen off badly, but I can barely recognize the shape of the flower." ”

Lu Bainian put the paper and a white paintbrush in front of her: "Try to trace it and see what kind of flower shape it is." ”

Begonia took the pen, dipped in ink and immediately began to paint. Seeing that she didn't hesitate to write, Haijiao was obviously confident, and didn't bother her, so he lowered his voice and asked Lu Bainian: "Grandpa Lu, is there anything special about this flower shape?" ”

Lu Bainian said: "The flower shape is secondary, and this comb will be made of ebony, which is more unusual." ”

He told Xie Wenzai and the brothers and sisters of Haijiao and Begonia that during the reign of Emperor Yongchang, the ebony inventory in the inner house was in urgent need of many times, because Emperor Yongchang himself liked the utensils made of this material, not only the furniture used in the dormitory should be made of ebony, but even the small objects such as pen holders, paperweights, and pen holders used in daily life were also made of ebony as the main material as much as possible. It's just that in the inner library, the inventory of ebony is limited. In order to meet the needs of the emperor, the inner government basically scraped all the ebony that could be found by the people, and purchased it from Nanyang on a large scale, so that the folk ebony was almost extinct. The situation did not improve until Emperor Yongchang's son, Emperor Longding, the first emperor, succeeded to the throne.

Since the materials are limited, and Emperor Yongchang is very fond of ebony, the utensils made by the inner government with it must be given priority to the nobles in the palace, and they will not be sold out at all. However, if it is a high-ranking nobleman or a relative of the emperor, the emperor may also reward it. Such things, if one thing is counted as another, can be found in the account books of the inner government, from the craftsmen who made them, the dates, to the powerful officials who received the rewards, they will be recorded clearly, and it is impossible to prevaricate the past.

So where did the pair of ebony gold combs in Mrs. Ma's dressing box come from?

Begonias are now very proficient in depicting flowers. Nowadays, she doesn't need to be beautiful, she just needs to draw the flower shape clearly, and she doesn't have to draw it too finely.

Her flower has not yet finished writing, Lu Mo Nian has already recognized it: "This is the pattern of longevity flowers, in fact, it is a kind of treasure flower, but with the pattern of longevity, it is more auspicious, and it is often used in various boxes, cups and plates, mirror combs and the like, but it is rare, and later there are clothes with longevity patterns, and many noble ladies like to use it as clothes." This pattern was almost only popular in the Yongchang period, almost in the ninth year of Yongchang, a lady of the clan lost her honor during the New Year's palace banquet, which annoyed Empress Zhang, who ridiculed the ugly longevity pattern on her dress, and few people used this pattern anymore. ”

Emperor Yongchang reigned for only ten years, Empress Zhang was favored, and gave birth to the only imperial heir, that is, the first emperor Longding. During the Yongchang and Longding years, the Zhang family, whether she was the queen or the queen mother, was the most powerful woman in the harem. What she doesn't like, how dare she use the daughters of the royal family and the powerful courtiers? This pattern naturally disappeared so quickly.

Lu Mo Nian also felt a little pity: "In the last years of the first emperor, not long after he was established as the prince, his position was not very stable, so the first emperor sent the prince to the Temple of Heaven to worship the heavens on his behalf. At that time, I was working in the Ministry of Works, and I remember that this matter was set in a hurry, and some sacrificial utensils had to be made in a hurry. Some craftsmen suggested reactivating a batch of sacrificial vessels made by the Inner Government for the prince during the Yongchang period. Because of the use of the eternal longevity pattern, that batch of sacrificial vessels committed the taboo of Empress Zhang, and they were idle as soon as they were done, and they were well preserved in the warehouse, and they were all new. But the boss still refuted it and asked to rush to make new products.

"We have been busy for many days, and I have been watching the progress of the craftsmen day and night, and I have barely managed to catch up with the progress of the craftsmen, almost living in the workshop. At that time, both the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs spent a lot of money, and there were ready-made ones, but they still had to waste them. After ascending the throne today, Neku was so poor that he couldn't even get the money to renovate the palace...... "Now he still feels a pity when he thinks back to the batch of sacrificial vessels that were left unused back then."

But that was more than thirty years ago. As for whether this pattern has become fashionable in the capital again in the past 30 years, and whether the idle sacrificial vessels have been used again, he does not know. These little things, whether they are relatives, friends, old friends, or companions who were subsequently exiled to the northwest, will not pay attention to.

Although Lu Mo Nian didn't know much, from his words, Haijiao Begonia could already deduce one thing: If Mrs. Ma's ebony gold comb was obtained from normal channels, it must have been made in the Yongchang period, and it was before the first month of the ninth year of Yongchang. Considering that ebony was almost monopolized by the royal family at that time, and there were few people in the people, and the people who could get the products of the inner government were all high-ranking officials and dignitaries, Mrs. Ma's background was probably very prominent, and she may even be a relative of the emperor.

She has been in Chang'an for decades, and in her early years, she showed good words and deeds everywhere, obviously well-educated, and she seems to be a daughter of a high family, so many people believe that she is a down-and-out famous lady who is worthy of the general of the Zhou family. She will have such a pair of ebony combs produced by the inner house, which seems to prove her extraordinary background in disguise.

But in this way, things don't make sense.

Hai Jiao showed a puzzled expression: "If her background is really so prominent, then how can she become the adopted daughter of the Ma family's aunt and grandmother, a wealthy businessman?" Do you want to marry the old lady of the Zhou family's third room to fill the house? What about her parents and family? ”

Haitang took the opportunity to ask Xie Wenzai and Lu Bainian: "Fifty or sixty years ago, were there any royal relatives and high-ranking officials in the capital who lost their daughters?" Or was her daughter evicted from the house for a mistake? ”

Xie Wenzai couldn't think of it, but Lu Bainian thought about it and nodded: "Yes!" There's one in the clan! ”

(End of chapter)